Composite packing material



c. A. FouRNl-:ss 3,519,528

COMPOSITE PACKING MATERIAL 4 Sheets-Sheet l Juny 7, 1970 Original Filed Jan. 2l, 1964 FIG ooooooooo FIG.3.

Juy 7, 1970 c. A. FouRNEss 3,519,523

COMPOS ITE PACKING MATERIAL July 7, v1970 c. A. FOURNESS COMPOSITE PACKING MATERIAL original Filed Jan. 21, 1964 4 SheeauS-Sheet` 5 July 7, 1970 C. A. FOURNESS 3519528 COMPOS ITE PACKING MATERIAL United States Patent O 3,519,528 COMPOSITE PACKING MATERIAL Charles A. Fourness, Appleton, Wis., assignor to Kimberly-Clark Corporation, Neenah, Wis., a corporation of Delaware Continuation of application Ser. No. 339,173, Jan. 21, 1964. This application Dec. 11, 1967, Ser. No. 693,046

Int. Cl. B321) 3/00 U.S. Cl. 161-120 3 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A composite packing material comprising a pair of paper sheets between which a batt of paper material is disposed with the batt being glued to at least one of the sheets and the sheets being embossed through the batt at points which are in a spaced pattern, the batt comprising individual pieces of corrugated or creped paper material limited in diameter between 1/2 inch and 11/2 inches.

This application is a continuation of my prior copending application Ser. No. 339,173 filed Jan. 2l, 1964 now abandoned.

My invention relates to packing material and more particularly to a composite blanket or product made up of upper and lower sheets of paper or similar exible material having a layer of coarse paper material therebetween.

It is an object of the present invention to provide an improved packing material of this type, the internal layer of which is made up of corrugated or creped paper which has been coarsely ground so that it remains in relatively large pieces rather than being reduced to its ultimate fiber.

It is also an object of the present invention to provide an improved apparatus and method for making such a product.

The invention consists of the novel constructions, arrangements, devices and methods to be hereinafter described and claimed for carrying out the above stated objects, and such other objects, as will be apparent from the following description of a preferred form of the invention, illustrated with reference to the accompanying drawings, wherein:

FIG. l is a perspective view of a piece of packing material embodying the principles of the invention;

FIG. 2 is a sectional view on an enlarged scale taken on line 2 2 of FIG. l;

FIG. 3 is a side view of a hammer mill apparatus, with certain parts being shown broken away for clarity of illustration, for providing coarsely ground corrugated material for use for the internal layer of the composite packing material of the invention;

FIG. 4 is a vertical sectional view on an enlarged scale of a part of the apparatus shown in FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is a sectional view of a part of the hammer mill apparatus taken on line 5-5 of FIG. 4;

FIG. 6 is a side view of a machine for making the composite packing material;

FIG. 7 is a view similar to FIG. 6 and taken from the other side of the machine;

FIG. 8 is a side view of a pair of embossing rolls which form parts of the machine illustrated in FIGS. 6 and 7;

FIG. 9 is an end view of the embossing rolls, and

FIG. l0 is a partial side elevational view of a glue roll forming a part of the machine illustrated in FIGS 6 and 7.

Like chacaters of reference designate like parts in the several views.

Referring now to FIGS. 1 and 2 the packing material 3,519,528 Patented July 7, 1970 ICC of the invention may be seen to comprise a base sheet 19 and a cover sheet 20 of paper or similar thin iiexible sheet material between which a layer 21 of coarsely ground corrugated or creped paper is disposed. The sheets 19 and 20 are embossed together through the layer 21 at spaced spots 22.

The coarsely ground paper 21 may be prepared from large sheets of such paper by means of the hammer mill 233 illustrated in FIGS. 4, and 5. The hammer mill may be seen to comprise a housing 24 having an inlet trough 25 on one end and a shaft 26 extending through and rotatable with respect to the housing 24. A carriage 27 is rotatably disposed on the shaft 26 and comprises a plurality of spaced plates 28 which extend normally with respect to the shaft 26 and are held xed with respect to each other. A plurality of shafts 29 extend through the plates 28, and the shafts carry hammers 30 swingably disposed thereon.

A semi-cylindrical plate 31 extends coaxially about the carriage 27 and shaft 26, and the plate 31 is provided with a plurality of openings 32 therethrough that may have diameters of 3A inch. The openings 32 are disposed in adjacent rows and are equally spaced within each row so as to be in a uniform pattern throughout the length and breadth of the plate 31. The plate 31 is disposed at such a distance from the shaft 26 that the ends of the hammers 30 pass in close proximity to the plate as the carriage 27 rotates.

A receiving chamber 33 is provided by the housing 24 beneath the perforated plate 31, and the chamber 33 is connected by means of a duct 34 with a fan 35 carried by the shaft 26. The fan 35 is connected by means of a duct 36 with a cyclone 37 which comprises a hollow shell through which the paper, which is pulverized by the hammers 30, may fall. Any suitable container 38 may be positioned beneath the cyclone 37 for receiving the pulverized paper produced by the hammers 30.

The machine for utilizing the pulverized paper from the hammer mill 233 to produce the composite packing material illustrated in FIGS. l and 2 is shown in FIGS. 6 and 7. The machine comprises a ground paper receiving and storage section 39, provided by a container 40 for the coarsely ground paper. The bottom of the container 40 is dened by a wire screen 41 that travels about four rolls 42, 43, 44, and rotatably carried by the frame 46 of the machine. The pass of the screen 41 between the rolls 44 and 45 is supported by a wooden framework 47 on which a coarse, expanded metal screen 48 is laid. It will be observed that the roll 45 is disposed at a higher level than the rolls 44 and 42 so that the pass of the screen between the rolls 44 and 45 and the pass of the screen between the rolls 45 and 42 are both inclined. A suction box 49 is disposed beneath the coarse screen 48 and is open to the screens 41 and 48. The suction box 49 is connected by means of a duct 50 to a suitable source 51 of suction.

A rotatable distributor 52 for the coarsely ground paper is carried by the framework 46 and is disposed above the suction box 49 and the inclined pass of the screen 41 between the rolls 44 and 45. The distributor 52 comprises a plurality of radial blades 53 that pass in close proximity to the screen 41 with a small gap of only 1A inch to one inch between the ends of the blades 53 and the screen.

The framework 46 carries a roll 54 of paper for forming the base sheet 19 of the composite article. A glue applicator device 55 is provided for paper web B from the roll 54 and comprises a glue pot 56 and a roll 57 rotatably disposed within the glue pot. A doctor blade 58 is held in contact with the exterior surface of the roll S7, and an idler roll 59 functions to hold the web B from the roll 54 in contact with the roll 57 as the web passes over the latter roll. The exterior surface of the roll 57 is provided with a plurality of depressions 57a (see FIG. 10) for receiving and holding glue. These depressions 57a may be spaced, for example, about 1%; inch apart in peripherally extending rows 3A; inch apart and in a regular pattern and may have a depth of about 1/16 inch and a diameter of lz inch. It will be obvious that these dimensions may be changed Without departing from the principles of the inventionthese dimensions being only given by way of example.

The paper web B from the glue applicator device 55 extends around a roll 60 which is rotatably carried by the framework 46, and the web B is carried by a downwardly extending table 61 which terminates in close proximity to the roll 60. The table 61 and roll 60 are so disposed that the web B passing from the roll 60 onto the table 61 is closely adjacent to the pass of the wire 41 between the rolls 42 and 45, and this pass of the wire 41 and the table 61 are substantially in alignment and decline at substantially the same angle with respect to horizontal. A roll 62 is carried by the framework 46 and is disposed at the lower end of the inclined table 61.

A roll 63 of paper to form the upper cover 20 of the linished product is carried by the framework 46. The web C from the roll 63 passes to a gluing device 64 and thence beneath the roll 62 for forming a sandwich of the webs B and C and of the coarsely ground paper material which is deposited within the container 40. The gluing device 64 is similar to the device 55 and comprises a rotatable glue roll 65 provided with glue receiving depressions on its surface and disposed in a glue pot 66. A doctor blade 67 is held in contact with the glue roll 65, and an idler roll 68 holds the paper web C in contact with the glue roll 65.

A lower embossing roll 69 and an upper embossing roll 70 (see FIGS. 6, 7, 8 and 9) are carried by the framework 46 with their axes disposed in a single vertical plane, as illustrated. Each roll 69 and 70 is provided with a plurality of bosses 71. The bosses 71 on each of the rolls may be disposed in a plurality of equally spaced planes, planes, for example, which extend normal to the roll axis. There may be 6 bosses in each of the planes, for example. The rolls 69 and 70 are disposed in such close proximity to each other that the bosses 71 of the two rolls nearly make contact so as to press the webs B and C substantially together and compress the coarsely ground paper material between the bosses.

A pull roll 72 and an idler roll 73, which is disposed in close proximity to the roll 72, are rotatably carried by the framework 46. The separation between the rolls 72 and 73 is such that the blanket of the webs B and C and of the coarsely ground paper material therebetween is pulled through the machine and between the rolls 72 and 73 as the rolls 72 and 73 rotate.

The machine is driven from a motor 74 which drives a speed reducer 75 by means of a chain 76. Sprocket wheels 77 and 78 are respectively carried by the speed reducer 75 and the roll 72, and a chain 79 extends around the sprockets 77 and 78 for driving the roll 72. The roll 72 also has a sprocket 80 fixed thereto, and a chain 81 extends around the sprocket 80 and also around a sprocket 82 carried by the upper embossing roll 70 for the purpose of driving the roll 70.

Intermeshing gears 83 and 84 of equal size are respectively carried by the embossing rolls 70 and 69, and the lower embossing roll 69 is thus driven at the same speed as the upper roll 70. A sprocket 85 is fixed on the lower embossing roll 69, and a chain 86 extends around the sprocket 85 for the purpose of driving other parts of the machine. Sprockets 87, 88 and 89 are xed on the rolls 65, 42 and 57, and the chain 86 extends around all of these sprockets, in addition to an idler sprocket 90,

for the purpose of driving the rolls 65, 42 and v57 in timed relationship to each other.

The distributor 52 is driven in the direction A by means of a separate motor 91. The motor 91 has a pulley 92 fixed on its output shaft, and a belt 93 extends around the pulley 92 and also around a pulley 94 carried by the distributor 52.

In operation, corrugated or creped paper is fed into the hammer mill 23 across and through the trough 25. This material may be in rather large sheets and may simply be parts of corrugated boxes or cartons, or it may be creped tissue paper, for example. The shaft 26, on which the carriage 27 is mounted, is driven by any suitable source of motive power (not shown), and the hammers 23 thus have their ends move in close proximity to the perforated plate 31. The holes in the plate 31 are relatively large, such as in diameter, and the corrugated or creped paper is thus coarsely ground by the hammers 30 in forcing the paper through the holes in the plate 31 and cutting the paper at the edges of the holes. The coarsely ground paper is collected in the chamber 33, and the fan 35 blows the coarsely ground corrugated or creped paper into the cyclone 37 and thereby into the container 38. The coarsely ground material is then placed into the container 40 of the machine illustrated in FIGS. 6 and 7.

The motor 74 of this machine drives the pull roll 72 through the speed reducer 75 and chains 76 and 79. The roll 70 is driven from the roll 72 by means of the chain 81 and sprockets 80 and 82, and the gears 83 and 84 assure that the roll 69 rotates along and in synchronism with the roll 70. The rolls 65, 42 and 57 are driven through the chain 86 from the sprocket 85 xed with respect to the lower embossing roll 69. The screen 41 extends around the roll 42 in addition to the rolls 43, 44 and 45, and the screen 41 thus moves in a loop about these rolls.

The coarsely ground corrugated or creped paper within the container 40 travels upwardly on the inclined pass of the screen `41 between the rolls 44 and 45, and the coarsely ground paper material adheres to the screen 41 due to the action of the suction maintained within the box 49. The distributor 52 rotates in the direction A; and, due to the close promixity of the ends of the plates 53 to the screen 41, the distributor assures an even thickness of the coarsely ground paper material on the screen 41.

The web B i's drawn from the roll 54 between the glue roll 57 and the idler roll 59. The glue roll 57 is driven by the chain 86 and sprocket 89 and rotates with the movement of the web B. The roll 57 is coated on its peripheral surface by glue, and the doctor blade 58 removes substantially all of the glue from the surface of the roll 57 except the glue retained in the depressions 57a. The glue within the depressions 57a is applied on the lower face of the web B in spots that are spaced from each other the same distance as the depressions in the surface of the roll 57.

The web B passes over the roll 60 and downwardly along the table 61. The layer of coarsely ground corrugated or creped paper on the screen 41 travels down the inclined pass of the screen 41 between the rolls 45 and 42 and onto the glued side of the paper web B, transferring from the screen 41 to the web B between the rolls 42 and 60 which are in close proximity to each other.

The web C is drawn from the roll 63 and passes Ibetween the idler roll l68 and the glue roll 65. The gluing device 64 applies glue in spaced areas or spots onto the surface of the web C which faces the layer of ground paper carried by the web B and functions in the same manner as the gluing device 55. The web C passes beneath the idler roll 62 so as to form a complete sandwich of the coarsely ground paper material and the two Webs B and C, passing toward the rolls 69 and 70 from the roll 62. The glued faces of both webs B and C are in Contact with the layer of coarsely ground paper, and the glue functions to lix the webs B and C to the layer of coarsely ground paper. The sandwich of the webs B and C and the coarsely ground paper material passes between the embossing rolls 69 and 70, and the bosses 71 of the two rolls 69 and 70 very nearly meet as the rolls 69 and 70 rotate so as to emboss the sandwich of webs B and C and coarsely ground paper material `with depressions 22 for further fixing the parts of the sandwich together. The pull roll 72 acting in conjunction with the adjacent idler roll 73 pulls the sandwich of webs and layer coarsely ground paper material through the machine and outwardly from the machine, and the cornposite product is then wound onto rolls and is suitably cut by any suitable conventional apparatus (not shown).

The composite packing material as shown in FIGS. l and 2 and made from the coarsely ground corrugated or creped paper advantageously provides substantial bulk for packing purposes at a minimum of cost. The corrugated paper layer 21 may be made from parts of used corrugated paper boxes, for example, which are extremely cheap. By coarsely grinding the corrugated or creped paper material, the characteristics of the paper material are retained rather than reducing the material to its ultimate bers, and more bulk and resiliency are obtained in this manner. I have found that coarsely grinding by forcing the corrugated or creped paper through 3%1 diameter holes provides pieces of ground paper of about this diameter which is advantageous from the bulk standpoint. By coarsely grinding, the corrugated material also advantageously provides interlocking of the pieces of material together in the layer 21 for practically eliminating the leakage of the ground paper material at the edges of the composite product. The cornposite product, as above described, comprises the coarsely ground corrugated or creped paper material which is laid out in a uniform thickness batt on the lower web B, one complete face of which has had glue applied to it in spaced spots; and the upper web C preferably also has one face completely covered with glue in similarly spaced spots, although this glue, if desired, may be omitted. The eiect of the overall gluing on at least the face of the lower web B assures that the sandwich of the two webs and the coarsely ground paper material is bound together after the glue dries. The embossing rolls 69 and 70 bring the glue through the coarsely ground internal batt 21 so that the glue is uniform throughout the composite product at emboossed spots 22, and the embossing further assures that the product is firmly bound together from face to face. Coarsely ground corrugated paper from old packing boxes is preferred for the layer 21, since it is fibrous and bulky and is load sustaining, but coarsely ground creped wadding or tissue also has very good bulk characteristics and appearance.

Although I have specifically mentioned that the openings 32 may have a diameter of 3%1 inch, I have determined that the openings 32 may vary from 1/2 inch to l-1/2 inches in diameter w-hile still obtaining the objectives of the invention. The webs B and C may be of the same type of paper and may have the same basis weight, if desired;

and, in this case, glue is preferably applied to both the webs B and C. The web C forming the cover sheet 20 may also, if desired, be of thinner material; and it may also, if desired, be creped if of relatively low basis weight. In this case, particularly if the coarsely ground paper layer is relatively thin, it is generally not necessary to apply glue to the web C, inasmuch as the embossing rolls 69 and 70 under these conditions `firmly attach the web C to the coarsely ground paper material layer and to web B just by virtue of their embossing action.

I wish it to be understood that the invention is not to be limited to the specilic constructions, arrangements, devices, and methods shown and described, except only in-A sofar as the claims may be so limited, as it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that changes may be made without departing from the principles of the invention.

What is claimed is:

1. A composite packing material comprising a pair of paper sheets between which a batt of paper material is disposed, said batt being glued to at least one of said sheets and said sheets being embossed to each other through said batt at points which are in a spaced pattern and are disposed between edges of the packing material, said batt comprising individual pieces of corrugated paper limited in diameter to 3%; inch.

2. A composite packing material comprising a pair of paper sheets between which a batt of paper material is disposed, said Ibatt being glued to at least one of said sheets and said sheets being embossed to each other through said batt at points which are in a spaced pattern and are disposed between edges of the packing material, said batt comprising individual pieces of paper selected from a group consisting of corrugated and creped paper and limited in diameter between `1/2 inch and 11/2 inches.

3. A composite packing material comprising a pair of paper sheets between which a batt of paper material is disposed, said batt being glued to at least one of said sheets and said sheets being embossed to each other through said batt at points which are in a spaced pattern and are disposed between edges of the packing material, said batt comprising individual pieces of paper selected from a group consisting of corrugated and creped paper and limited in diameter to si inch.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 8/1932 Upson ll- 120 3/1933 Upson .161-120 Us. C1. X.R. i 1er- 128, 135 -l Y 

